As one of this year’s fiercest congressional races approaches the finish line, internal emails indicate that staffers for seven-term incumbent Mike Honda (D-San Jose) violated House rules prohibiting mixing campaign activity with official business. They also suggest a pay-to-play ethic—conferring benefits to contributors and prospective donors—has taken hold in the office of a congressman who has cast himself as a leading champion of the poor.

San Jose Inside has obtained an internal bulletin San Jose police chief Larry Esquivel sent out July 14, explaining that the status quo on smart phone searches has to change. But that could be the tip of the iceberg regarding 4th Amendment issues in Santa Clara County.

Internal emails for top Santa Clara County Office of Education administrators provide a rare glimpse into an insulated power structure that attempts to control the message at all times, delays the delivery of information when possible and spins uncomfortable facts into purple public relations prose.

A transportation measure intended to raise the local sales tax will have to wait until 2016. Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino said new polling projects low voter turnout. But questions remain about how Guardino's been handling his polling information.

Elected officials in San Jose and Santa Clara County have expressed diplomatic, if not cautious, public support for a proposal that would have the Sheriff’s Office assist an undermanned San Jose Police Department. But behind the scenes, the two law enforcement agencies have been at odds for more than a year over services already contracted.

Kathleen King ran the county's $450 million sales tax campaign, and she also happens to be CEO of the organization most likely to get leftover money from Measure A. So, coincidence or kickback?

San Jose Inside has learned that the Santa Clara County Office of Education cut tutoring services for foster youth and filed questionable federal grant reports while wasting more than a half-million dollars that could have helped the county's most needy children.

Councilmember Ash Kalra recently violated rules on elected officials using city resources to do campaign work. In an interview Friday, he readily admitted his mistake.

Campaign records with the Secretary of State’s office show that an alleged co-conspirator in State Sen. Leland Yee's pubic corruption case contributed money to just two political candidates since the beginning of 2010: Yee and Assemblywoman Nora Campos (D-San Jose).

Paul Fong may not be breaking any rules by letting a lobbyist hold a $100,000 debt over his head during his entire time in the State Assembly, but his latest campaign transgression could be seen as a violation of state law and local police policies.

Just when this story couldn’t get any stranger, Councilmember Johnny Khamis offered a new timeline of events regarding his decision last week to abstain from voting on his own memo. And some of those new events don't add up.

A bizarre occurrence flew under the radar at last week’s City Council meeting, as Councilmember Johnny Khamis abstained from a vote on his own memo. Why he did so just might make your head spin.

The staff churn in Speaker pro Tem Nora Campos’ office is the talk of Sacramento, raising questions about the assemblymember’s ability to advocate for constituents who’ve been shortchanged by ineffective leadership.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office seized documents in a Thanksgiving eve raid that implicate Xavier Campos’ campaign in funding the red-baiting political mailers that helped him win a seat on the San Jose City Council. Now, records obtained this week by Metro/San Jose Inside suggest that the District 5 councilmember engaged in a highly unconventional campaign finance practice—one used by the incarcerated former county supervisor—that would have allowed him to establish phony campaign bank accounts that could have gone undetected by agencies monitoring election spending.

George Shirakawa Jr. is currently spending his days in the Santa Rita Jail infirmary, while his county-provided attorney is attempting to seal grand jury transcripts that shed new information on his alleged role in a political mail fraud scandal. Since the documents remain public for the time being, San Jose Inside has decided to publish the grand jury transcripts in their entirety.

A Santa Clara County Grand Jury drilled into financial transactions between George Shirakawa Jr. and California Assembly leader Nora Campos that occurred shortly after voters received a fraudulent mailer posted with stamps bearing Shirakawa’s DNA. Five thousand dollars changed hands as the Speaker pro Tempore’s younger brother battled in a tight race for a San Jose City Council seat, secured thanks to illegal, anonymous dirty tricks. Metro and San Jose Inside broke the Grand Jury report this week. Read part two of our report here.